Automobile body dent repair device



June 4, 1963 c. J. KLISS AUTOMOBILE BODY DENT REPAIR DEVICE Filed Feb. 1, 1962 INVENTOR.

CHARLES J. KLISS ATTO R NEY III:

3,091,983 AUTOMOBILE BODY DENT REPAR DEVICE Charles Joseph Kliss, 179 Palisade Ava, Garfieid, NJ. Filed Feb. 1, 1962, Ser. No. 176,480 1 Claim. (Cl. 81-15) This invention relates to tools for removing dents and the like from automobile bodies, and a primary object is the provision of a simple and inexpensive tool which when used results in a very substantial reduction in the cost to the owner of the damaged vehicle.

Heretofore it has frequently been necessary to completely replace a damaged automobile door because of the high cost of labor required to repair the damage, for it was necessary to remove the upholstery and parts of the inside of the door had to be cut away to provide accessability for jacks, body spreaders, hammers, etc. Finally the parts had to be re-welded in place and the upholstery reinstalled. The same procedure was necessary for all other parts of the body, including the roof. Other dilfr culties resulting in costly repair bills, which it should not be necessary to discuss in detail, are also encountered in removing dents or bumps from body parts including front and rear fenders.

It is therefore another object of the present invention to provide a tool for the purpose mentioned, which overcomes the objectionable accompaniments of other repair methods such as those described above.

The above as well as additional objects will be clarified in the following description wherein reference numerals designate like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawing. It is to be noted that the drawing is intended primarily for the purpose of illustration and that it is therefore neither desired nor intended to limit the invention necessarily to any or all of the exact details shown or described except insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing, FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the tool of the present invention, illustrating the operation thereof.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a view of the tool support member or fulcrum block of FIGS. 1 and 2 as it appears when viewed along the section line 3-3 of FIG. 1, and showing also the lever arm in section.

FIG. 4 is a view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1, showing also the lever arm in section.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 66 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of a modified form of the lifting arm of the tool, further illustrating in section a portion of a vehicle body to which it is applied.

FIG. 8 is a front elevational view of the lifting arm of FIG. 7, partly broken away.

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of another modified form of lifting arm.

FIG. 10 is a front elevational view of the lifting arm of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken on the line 11-11 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 12 is a view illustrating the manner of insertion of the double lifting arms of FIGS. 7 and 9 in a hole which has been drilled through the body layer which has been dented.

FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 12 but as applied to the lifting arm of FIG. 1.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates a portion of the dented surface from which the dent is to be removed so that the depressed or dented portion 11 may be elevated or raised to its position shown atent in broken lines to assume the original position of the surface prior to its being damaged by the dent.

The instant tool in each of the forms illustrated, includes a bar or lever arm 12, a lifting arm 13, 13a or 13b, a fulcrum support or block 14. Only the lifting arms are shown in various modified forms; the arm 13 is composed of, or is, a single arm, whereas the arms 13a and 1312 are both double arms.

The lever arm 12 is substantially elongated and substantially cylindrical in form although it may have any other suitable cross-section than circular, but a substantially circular cross-section is preferred. Preferably, also, this arm instead of being straight throughout its length has an upward bend near but spaced from its outer end 15, and a handle 16 may be provided on its opposite end. In use the bar 12 is positioned substantially as shown in FIG. 1, with its concave side upward. On the lower edge thereof at the end 15, a series of transverse grooves 17 is provided, and on its upper edge an extended series of similar grooves 18 is provided.

The fulcrum support or block 14 consists of a base 19 provided with a cushion or other suitable lining 20, and an upright wall 21 extends from the base. Preferably intermediate its length, the wall 21 has a substantially semi-circular cut-out in its upper edge, indicated at 22, whose circumferential edge is convexly rounded complementary to the .convex rounding of the grooves 17. The wall 21 may also be provided near its ends with convexly rounded holes of the same diameter as the cutout 22, indicated at 23.

The single lift arm 13 consists of a relatively wide and flat shank portion 24 having a lower reduced end 25 substantially aligned therewith and terminating in a hook 26 at substantially right angles to the plane of the shank portion 24. The portion 24 has a series of convexly rounded holes 27 therethrough.

The tool is used as follows. A hole 28 is drilled through the indented surface 11, and in the manner illustrated in FIG. 13, with the arm 13 more or less horizontal or parallel with the surface 11 the hook 26 is passed through the hole and the arm 13 is then turned into a position wherein the shank portion 25 is in full or approximate alignment with the hole 28. Then, with the support 14 so positioned, with a groove 17 registering about the groove 22 in the wall 21, that a groove 18 engages in a hole 27 of the lifting arm 13, the bar 12 is raised so that the hook 26 raises the indentation 11 from the position shown in full lines to that shown in broken lines in FIG. 1. In case the dent is a deep one, the bar '12 would be passed to one or another of the other holes 27 in the arm 13, depending upon the depth of the dent. Similarly, another of the grooves 18 than the one shown positioned in the plane of the arm 13 in FIG. 1 may be so positioned, and a different groove 17 may be engaged in the groove 22 of the fulcrum support 14, all depending upon the degree of force required to level the dented portion, or upon the position of the latter with respect to available room to work the lever arm. Thus a wide range of adjustability bothfor convenience of the operator and as required for the particular job to be done, is provided by the tool.

After a dent has been removed, the hole 28 is filled :as described below, or in any other suitable manner.

In the modifications shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, 10, double lifting arms are shown. In the case of the modification of FIGS. 7, 8, two identical b-ack-to-back lifting members are provided, each substantially similar to the arm 13 except that the hooks 26:: on the lower ends of their shank portions 25a extend in opposite directions. The main body or shank portions 24a have holes 27a therein substantially similar to the holes 27 in the shank portion 24, for the same purpose as the holes 27. One

difference between the shank portions a and the portion 25 is that the former are half-round or -cylindrical so that their complementary backsto-back surfaces are flat, as shown in FIG. 11. Since both halves of the arm 13a are separate from each other and are not attached to each other, they have their hooks 26a separately in serted through the hole 28 in the dent 11 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 12. After such entry of the hooks into the hole 28, the two members are swung upward into the positions of the portions 25a shown in broken lines in FIG. 12, whence the bar 12 is insertable in one pair of aligned holes 27a in the same manner as described in FIG. 1.

In the modification shown in FIGS. 9, 10, the arm 13!) consists, first, of an arm portion 29 having holes 27b therethrough, and a reduced main shank 25b. The lower extremity 30 of the arm portion 29 is rounded, substantially as shown. An auxiliary shank 31 has a ring 32 formed in its upper end, enclosing an opening 33-. A pin 34 projects from the lower end portion of the arm portion 29 and has a rounded head 35 on one end of its neck portion 36. A recess 37 is gouged out of the (right-hand, FIG. 9) flat side of the arm portion 29 at the lower end thereof, the depth of this recess equaling the lengthlof the pin neck 36. The shank 31 and its recessed ring 32 have a thickness equal to the depth of the recess 37 and to the length of the neck 36. The opening 33 in the ring has a larger diameter than that of the head 35 so that it may be slipped over the head to be suspended from the neck 36. The pin 34 may be rigid with the portion 29, or it may be loose in an opening, not shown, through the said portion. In either case its other end is preferably provided with a flat head to provide stability thereto. In use, the two shanks 25b, 31 are insertible separately into the hole 28 in the same manner as illustrated for the shanks 25a in FIG. 12, after first slipping the ring 32 off the head 35 and separating the two shanks. After their hooks 26b have thus been engaged on the underside of the dent 11 and the shanks swung into the same back-to-back position as shown for the shanks 25a in broken lines in FIG. 12, the ring 32 is slipped over the head 35 into the position thereof shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, and thus the lifting arm 13b is ready for use in the same manner as previously described for the lifting arms 13 and 13a.

In the foregoing, in setting forth the utility of the various modified forms of the instant tool, the tool was described as applied to a small dent requiring but a single hole for insertion of the tool. In practice, some small dents may require more than one hole, and large collision damage areas may require up to twenty or more spaced holes. The tool has been used to straighten out the entire surface of a door, a fender, a quarter panel, and other parts of an automobile.

The tool is preferably made in three sizes, in all of which, however, the body of the tool remains the same, and only the part with the hook which engages the hole is made in the three sizes, that is, in sizes of one-fourth inch diameter, three-sixteenths inch diameter and oneeighth inch diameter. The reason for this is that when commencing to work on a large damaged area of, for example, two feet by two feet, a series of larger holes are drilled in appropriate places and the biggest depressed area is pulled out; then smaller holes are drilled in spots in between wherever needed to pull out the smaller depressed portions, and so on.

After the surface has been pulled out to as near the original contour or shape, the entire Worked on area is surface-ground with a flat disc grinder to further smooth out the remaining rough spots. Next the entire area is covered with a suitable filler which is forced through the holes onto the reverse side of the sheet where the filler becomes anchored when dry. After drying of the filler the surface may be sanded for painting.

It is to be noted that as a consequence of the structural features described the tool is not only adjustable but also the lever cannot slip from the lifting arm or fulcrum support While being used.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to the structures illustrated in the drawing, such is not to be construed as a limitation upon the invention which is best defined in the appended claim.

The invention having thus been described, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is as follows:

In a tool for removing dents from sheet metal including a lever, and a fulcrum block adapted to be engaged by an end portion of said lever, an upright lifting arm comprising an arm portion having a hole therethrough receivably engageable by an intermediate portion of said lever, a pin projecting from the lower end portion of said arm portion, a neck on said pin, a head on the end of said neck, a main shank having one end formed integrally with the lower end of said arm portion, an auxiliary shank, a ring on one end of said auxiliary shank, said ring having the opening therethrough of a size to receive said pin head, said ring being conformably shaped to said neck, a first right angled hook on the other end of said main shank, and a second right angled hook on the other end of said auxiliary shank, said first and second hooks facing away [from each other and lying in the same plane when said auxiliary shank ring is engaged on said neck, said first and second hooks being insertable separately into a hole provided in sheet metal when said auxiliary shank ring is removed from engagement on said neck.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,737,084 Hilstad Nov. 26, 1929 2,191,720 Meinhardt Feb. 27, 1940 2,749,795 Boykin June 12, 1956 2,776,587 Killius Jan. 8, 1957 2,900,853 Steck Aug. 29, 1959 2,907,381 Newton et al. Oct. 6, 1959 2,941,429 Mason June 21, 1960 2,947,074 Newman Aug. 2, 1960 2,957,376 Parisi Oct. 25, 1960 

